Bounty Hunters #20 - Comic Review

The duo of T’onga and Losha have recently fallen in with a small crew of bounty hunters consisting of Zuckuss, Tasu Leech, and Bossk, while trying to save fellow bounty hunter Valance. Valance had known the location of Cadeliah, a certain heir to the Unbroken Clan and Mourner’s Wail syndicates, and one who could bring together the galactic underworld. Unfortunately for this crew, they lost Valance, and the best chance they have now of finding Cadeliah rests in the hands of Zuckuss’ old friend 4-LOM. Even more unfortunate is that during the recent War of the Bounty Hunters, 4-LOM was reprogrammed and turned into a massive killer droid hell-bent on killing Zuckuss. Zuckuss thinks he can work through things with his friend, however, and has a lead on his location in a seemingly abandoned Hutt freighter orbiting Lotho Minor. As the crew boards the ship and starts to find bodies they realize just what kind of mess they’ve gotten themselves into. At the same time, General Vukorah attends to a personal matter involving the Unbroken Clan as she attempts to force a meeting with the leader of the Unbroken Clan himself!

If you are at all a fan of space horror then this is the issue for you! It’s not full horror, but writer Ethan Sacks very much taps into the subgenre with Bounty Hunters #20. He pulls out plenty of wonderful tropes to make this an absolute blast of an issue, from the abandoned ship in the middle of a massive wreckage in space to cryptic messages to desecrated bodies throughout the empty halls. It’s all great fun and even has a heartfelt twist when it comes to the partial sequel to the War of the Bounty Hunters: 4-LOM and Zuckuss one shot that follows up their current relationship between the two of them. The bits with General Vukorah serve well to push the plot and the Crimson Dawn agenda, but feel just slightly bland. Thankfully it’s only a few pages, though, as the main focus is very much the search for the killer bounty droid!

The art for Bounty Hunters #20 is absolutely breathtaking. Artist Paolo Villanelli, colorist Bryan Valenza, and letterer VC’s Travis Lanham have created a stunning visual masterpiece with this issue. Not only does every panel feel like a painting, but they really nail the fun and creepy aesthetic of this near space horror story. As a big fan of the subgenre, I have to put emphasis on the few brutal dead bodies that we see on the ship and how well they pushed the boundaries of what we see in a Star Wars comic. Another thing that needs to be mentioned is how well they displayed the emotion and gravity of the scenes involving General Vukorah. To stay away from spoilers, the visual arts team really showed the impact of everything going on within her brief moments in this issue to show the readers just how much this affects not only her character, but the overall story within the current Star Wars universe.

The main cover art for Bounty Hunters #20 is done by artist Giuseppe Camuncoli. Camuncoli gives us a great depiction of the near space horror plot that resides within the issue by showing the crew of bounty hunters inside a ship, dimly lit with red lights, and a menacing entity waiting to pounce in the shadows of the ceiling above them. The first variant cover is another Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary piece from Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, and Neeraj Menon and gives us a wonderful look at Kaz from Star Wars: Resistance along with BB-8! The second variant was done by Ken Lashley and Juan Fernandez and shows off an awesome and dangerous hand to hand battle between Zuckuss and the killer droid version of 4-LOM.

Bounty Hunters #20 is another fun and exciting issue in the series and this time dips its toes beautifully into the space horror subgenre. While there is a bit or two that drags the issue down ever so slightly, most of this story is absolutely stunning and epic! It’s definitely one for fans of Star Wars, space horror, or just any kind of story featuring rogues with kind hearts. So hop on your swoop bike and zoom on down to your local comic shop to pick up a copy today!